


Baby Steps

by Madicam



Series: NCT drabbles [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-11-01 03:01:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17858993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madicam/pseuds/Madicam
Summary: Sicheng had never paid him any mind before. To him, Taeil was just one of the members playing his role in the group — never anything more.





	Baby Steps

Sicheng had never paid him any mind before. To him, Taeil was just one of the members playing his role in the group — never anything more.

Their latest comeback had changed that. Sicheng didn’t know if it was his newly dyed hair, or the American air that had gotten to Taeil. The boy who had once been shy with his dancing, and one of the least charismatic on stage was now oozing with confidence.

Sicheng couldn’t get his eyes off him. He’d meant to watch through a past performance to critique himself, but found his eyes always wandering to the short boy. He was glad he was alone in the room because his innocent watching of a single stage turned into him bingeing countless fancams of his elder. Sicheng was fascinated.

***

The next rehearsal was awkward to say the least. Taeil was someone that Sicheng had previously been comfortable with, even though the two weren’t close. Now, Sicheng couldn’t even look him in the eye. He was afraid that Taeil would see right through him, and discover his newfound feelings.

As they stopped for a break, Sicheng slunk to the floor, eyes traveling to Taeil’s figure. He couldn’t help but let out a chuckle as he watched the older boy run through his lines. Tae had always overdramatically swung his arms around whenever he sang — a trait Sicheng once made fun of, but now found endearing.

He didn’t notice the giddy smile that had grown on his face until Donghyuck mentioned it, making a point to connect it to Taeil with his statement. Taeil glanced back at Sicheng, who was already on his feet, his face bright red, and exiting the room. Sicheng knew that he was proving Donghyuck’s point, but he didn’t want to deal with the other members’ teasing.

Taeil had no hesitation in following Sicheng out of the room. He found the boy slouched against the wall in the hallway. “Sicheng… “ he started, walking over and placing his hand on the other boy’s shoulder.

Sicheng flinched, moving away from him. “Leave me alone,” he muttered, starting to walk away, in the opposite direction of the studio.

Taeil caught his wrist, spinning him around. “What’s wrong?” he asked, softening his voice so he didn’t sound harsh.

Sicheng hesitated, not sure if he wanted to share his feelings with anyone. Especially Taeil. “Nothing’s wrong… I just thought you sounded great,” he said softly, feeling heat rise to his cheeks.

Taeil raised an eyebrow, looking at him in confusion. “Why’d you run out though… ?”

The younger boy shook his head. He was embarrassed, and wasn’t ready to tell Taeil the real reason. “I was getting a headache,” he spit out. “I’m gonna get water. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Taeil watched Sicheng walk away, soon convincing himself to walk back into the studio, a frown on his face.

***

  
Taeil had always liked Sicheng. He loved being close to him. And Sicheng had never pushed him away like this. He didn’t know what he could have done wrong.

The tension was showing. Both while rehearsing and onstage, the boys would avoid each other. It got to the point where Taeyong had to butt in, telling them that they needed to fix whatever was going on between them; fans were starting to notice.

Taeil waited days to Sicheng to take initiative. Nothing seemed to come of it, so Taeil took matters into his own hands.

He cornered Sicheng one day after rehearsal, demanding to know what he had done wrong. He wanted to know why the boy now hated him so much. And he wanted to fix it.

This was exactly what Sicheng didn’t like — this confidence. The fact that Taeil had him cornered, that Sicheng was both where he wanted to be, but also where he was terrified to be. Sicheng cleared his throat, not sure what to say.

“I need an answer Sicheng…” Taeil sighed. “I don’t want to keep this distance between us. I miss you, and I miss the relationship that we had before. What did I do?”

Sicheng shook his head. “It wasn’t you. Not really.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It means that the stylists did a really good job and I don’t know how to deal with it.”

Taeil looked at him confused, trying to process what he meant. “Well I mean, the stylists always do a good job. I don’t-”

“What I mean to say is that you look really pretty this comeback and I don’t know what to do about it,” Sicheng exclaimed, frustrated that he had to outright say it. He wished that Taeil would have just understood. He didn’t want to say anything.

Taeil froze, not expecting to hear that from him. His cheeks flushed, and he smiled shyly, tearing his gaze away from Sicheng. “You mean that?”

Sicheng nodded, swallowing the saliva that had built up in his throat. He was nervous. He’d never admitted something like this to someone before. “Yes I mean that… Not that you weren’t pretty before or anything… You just seem more confident now and I happened to notice it more…” he said, his voice trailing off at the end. He couldn’t tell what Taeil was thinking.

“I’ve always thought you were. Pretty I mean. Or handsome if you prefer. I just. Wow. I never actually thought you’d say something like that to me…” Taeil wasn’t sure if this was a confession, or if Sicheng was just being kind. “So uhm, now that that’s out of the way, can we go back to some sort of normal now? I don’t want Taeyong upset with us anymore.”

Sicheng nodded. That wasn’t what he wanted. But he’d take what he could get. He didn’t typically initiate affection either, but he found himself stepping towards Taeil, and pulling him into a hug. Perhaps something more could come of this later. Baby steps, right?

**Author's Note:**

> Maybe I'll do more with this? Should I?


End file.
